Today we’re gonna be following up on last week’s fast tumbao pattern on one drum. So feel free to check out that lesson first, if you haven’t already. Now, in this lesson, I’m just gonna give you a couple simple variations for incorporating a second drum to that pattern, at faster tempos.

So, the first thing we’re gonna do, is adapt our one-drum pattern and add two open tones on the tumbadora, the low-drum, on the "two side" of the clave. Let’s check this out at a slow tempo first in 2-3 Clave, and then we’ll take a second to analyze it. And feel free to clap the clave along as you listen, so you can understand where the accents lie.

So, all we did here was switch up the sticking a bit in the first bar, by playing the first two notes with our left hand, to accommodate our right-hand strokes on the low drum. The second bar stayed exactly the same as our one drum fast tumbao from last week’s lesson.

Now, because we’re playing the low drum on the "two side" of the clave, we have to make sure we’re mindful of the accents that we’re playing. In this case, if we were to play a single open tone on beat 4 in the first bar, instead of the “and” four like we just did, we run the risk of the pattern sounding “cruzado” or “crossed” with the clave.

Now, for this next variation we’re simply going to play a low drum open tone on the “and” of three in the first bar. And to accommodate that, we’ll again switch up the sticking from our one drum pattern, and play palm-tip on the “and” of 2 and beat 3. Let’s check it out slowly.

Remember that the accents I’m playing in my left hand, can be played as slaps on the edge of the drum, or as slaps further inside, if it’s more comfortable for you. The main thing to keep in mind here, is that we want to use them to create accents to give the groove the right feel.

So, now that we have both patterns, let’s work on combining them to create a four-bar phrase. We’ll play our most recent variation with one low-drum open tone, followed by the first one we covered in this lesson, which had two low-drum open tones. Let's check it out.

The trickiest part about playing these patterns back to back, is playing: palm, slap as: left, right in the first bar, like in our one-drum fast tumbao. To playing: palm, slap on the first two beats of the third bar as: left, left. Now, ultimately, getting comfortable with both stickings, will really help you flow freely at faster tempos, as you begin work on some different variations. So, let’s work on this just a bit faster, in cut time.

Now, it’s super important for us to be very secure with the pulse as we speed this up, and we also need to be aware of which direction the clave is flowing in, and how our patterns line up. Now in this lesson, we’ve been working on everything exclusively in 2-3 Clave, so make sure you take the time to study these patterns slowly with a metronome at first and analyze the accents. As you start developing some variations of your own, as a general guideline, make sure you’re keeping the accents in mind from the original one drum fast tumbao, and using it as a foundation.

Now, If we wanted to play either pattern from this lesson, or the full four bar phrase, in the 3-2 direction of the clave, all we’d need to do, is start with the second bar or the fourth bar of the phrase, which is the “three side,” and continue flowing in that direction. But for now, let’s hear this four-bar phrase in 2-3 clave at a much faster tempo over one of our exclusive Conga Chops Practice Loops.

So, these are just a couple of simple ways to add some variety to your tumbao when playing at faster tempos. Now make sure you take the time to work on everything slowly at first, get comfortable with the sticking and the tones, do your best to stay relaxed and lock up with the metronome, and strive for a nice clear sound even as you speed up. Once you’re comfortable playing along with a metronome, make sure you really take the time to work on these grooves over your favorite records, or some of the loops over on Conga Chops. Really try to focus on locking up with the other instruments on the track, to help you develop a great feel.